The Ride: Alternate Princess Chapter 7 and a half
by tortallanrider
Summary: What happened during that ride Neal and Eliena took in Chapter 7 of Alternate Princess? Did Leo go? Did Eliena bring a keeper? What did they discuss? Was there any fluff? Thanks to x17SkmBrdchiczxx.


**The Ride: Alternate Princess Chapter 7.5**

What happened during that ride Neal and Eliena took in Chapter 7 of "Alternate Princess?" Did Leo go? Did Eliena bring a keeper? What did they discuss? Was there any fluff? Thanks to x17SkmBrdchiczxx.

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Eliena silently slipped into the stables that held the Rider's horses. She chose her favorite mountain pony that she used during Rider training to keep up with the trainees. The pony was 14.3 hands, right on the line to being a horse, and a strawberry roan. She had named the pony Ruby, and was the only one allowed to ride the feisty mare.

"Hi Ruby," Eliena greeted softly, going into the stall, brush in hand. She stroked the pony's velvety nose and kissed right between her eyes. Ruby nudged Eliena's chest and she laughed quietly, pulling a sugar cube from her pocket. "You're a spoiled brat, Ruby."

"Some might say the same about ye, yer highness," a voice remarked. Eliena turned, violet eyes wide with fear, but smiled when she saw it was only Stefan, the chief hostler.

"Goddess, Stefan! You scared me!" she exclaimed.

"What are ye doin' here, Eli?" Stefan asked. "Isn't there a ball goin' on?"

"Neal and I are going for a ride with Leo. _Please_ don't tell, Stefan," Eliena replied. "I just needed to get out. _Please_."

"Ye know I'd never tell on ye, Eli," Stefan said. "Have fun." She smiled gratefully and brushed Ruby quickly. Stefan handed her the tack, which was put on the roan with the ability of someone who had been doing it a long time. The girth was cinched tight, and Eliena only had to knee Ruby _once_ for bloating on her. Ruby, usually vehemently opposed to the bit, took it easily. Eliena smiled. Stefan opened the door and Eliena led Ruby to the closest mounting block. Her stirrups were the right length, as she used her own saddle, so all she had to do was swing herself into the saddle.

Once mounted, Eliena nudged Ruby into a walk to go find Neal and Leo. Leo was waiting at the pages' barn; on the big dappled gray his father had given him. Leo, who was bad with names, had left the name to Eliena, who had named the huge, gentle gelding Thunder. Silently, they went to the Royal Forest, where Neal had promised to meet them. He rode a beautiful chestnut named Charm.

"Shall we?" Eliena asked.

"We shall," Neal replied. She smiled.

"Race you!" All Eliena had to do was tilt her weight forward and cluck to Ruby, and the pony took off at a dead gallop on the path. Though Ruby was considerably smaller than Neal and Leo's warhorses, she was nimble and quick. The thunder of hooves behind her was far away, and Eliena smiled. They would never catch her!

She reached a clearing a mile or so into the forest and stopped. Her friends were still far behind, so Eliena walked Ruby into the trees, concealing them. When Leo and Neal reached the clearing, they looked around.

"Eli?" Leo called.

"Are you here?" Neal asked. Eliena smiled and let loose a war cry. Leo and Neal looked terrified as Eliena kicked Ruby, who reared up, hooves flying. Eliena kept her seat, loving the look on her friends' faces.

"Got you!" she cried, walking Ruby from the trees. "You were so scared!" She laughed, patting Ruby, who gave a satisfied snort.

"Eliena," Leo said, shaking his head. "I should've known."

"I ought to strangle you," Neal told her. Eliena smiled at him.

"Don't be a sissy, Neal," Eliena teased. "It was all in good fun."

"Good fun indeed," he huffed.

"Conservative," she jabbed.

"Lunatic," Neal fired back. Eliena laughed and dismounted.

"Everyone off. Ruby, stand." The pony tossed her head as if to say, "Did you _really_ need to tell me?" Leo and Neal got off, and tied their mounts to trees. Eliena flopped down onto the soft grass, black hair fanning out.

"Uncle Jonathan would kill you if he knew you were here," Leo told Eliena, lying beside her.

"Who cares? I _hate_ Court," Eliena replied. "Its so boring. When I'm queen, I'll never have balls."

"The conservatives will all hate you," Neal said from his place on her other side. "You'd be the most hated queen."

"So? They hate father for marrying mother, don't they? They can learn to live with it. Besides, as queen, I can do whatever I want."

"You don't have unlimited power, Eli," Leo told her.

"I _know_, Leo. Mithros, do you _really_ think I'm that stupid?" she asked.

"No," Leo replied quietly. They were silent for a while.

"I wish I weren't princess," Eliena remarked finally.

"Why?" Neal asked.

"Because I want to be _normal_. I love being the princess, and my parents, and everything, but for _once_ I want to do something without worrying about what the people in Court will think, or my reputation," she replied with a sigh. "I think I know how mother feels."

"You know, lots of people were appalled when your father chose to marry your mother," Neal said. Eliena nodded.

"She was a scandal. She'd killed his cousin, and had lied to almost everyone for eight years. She wasn't a-" Eliena blushed. "She wasn't a typical Court lady, she wasn't proper enough, and she wasn't 'queen material.' But father loved her. He said that was all that mattered, and everyone should see beyond it. I've heard about the wedding speeches so much. Everyone defended father's choice. Mother saved his life, and they went through so much together. They were best friends. The way father's always told it, he made it sound like there was no one else in the entire world like mother, and that she was always the one he was going to marry- from the moment he knew she was a girl he knew that she was the one to rule by his side." Eliena was silent for a while. "That's what _I_ want. I don't want to marry for an alliance, or for power, or money, or any of that. I want to marry because I'm in _love_. I want to have one person who I know from the moment I meet them that they're the only one for me. That I want to marry them and no one else, that if I don't spend forever with them I'll die."

"Whoa," Neal said. "And I thought I was a romantic."

"We should be getting back," Leo told them, standing up. "Look, the sun's about to rise."

"_What_?" Eliena asked. She got up and looked at the horizon. It was turning pale pink. "It can't be. We left at… oh." She realized it had been around one or two in the morning when they had left, and the sun usually rose at around five. Three hours seemed too long, though…

"And we were just having fun," Neal sighed, shaking his head.

"That's life." Eliena shrugged as she mounted Ruby. "I'm going to ride ahead, just in case they've sent a search party."

"They wouldn't!" Leo exclaimed. "Would they?"

"We're with the princess, Leo," Neal replied. "The _heiress_. If they've noticed she's gone, there's a search party."

_**Author's Note- **the end. Don't put this on alert, there WILL BE NO MORE CHAPTERS. I would, however, ADORE a review. New chapter (CHAPTER 9) of Alternate Princess up soon. I hope you liked this short little side one-shot. REVIEW._


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